Day 17

After the same morning announcement woke me up, I felt the same thrashing pain in my head I'd been feeling these last few days. Actually, this had been the fifth time I had woken up because of the migraine that just wouldn't go away. I stood up but the headache made me sway from being lightheaded and almost lose balance. Luckily, I caught myself using the bed frame as I stabilized myself for a moment.

I soon made my way out of my room and to the cafeteria. I saw everyone at their usual tables as my group waved to me. Luca smiled big as he greeted me. "Yo, Kai! I got you a plate of food ready!"

I smiled as I sat down next to him. "Thanks, buddy," I thanked him as I felt a jolt against my skull as I grasped at my head, dropping my fork in the process.

Luca patted my shoulder. "Kai, what's wrong?"

"Sorry, I just have a splitting headache. It's been getting stronger for the last few days," I answered.

Shana looked thoughtful before saying, "If you need acetaminophen, there's a bottle of some powerful pills in the Nurse's office."

"I'll get it for you, Kai," Luca offered already standing up but I grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back down.

I then said, "No, please don't. I don't want to bother you with that. I can get it."

Luca shook his head. "Not a bother at all. I already ate most of my breakfast yet you haven't touched yours. I'll be back in a flash."

"But I don't…" Before I could argue, Shana let out an exaggerated groan to silence both of us.

"For God's sake! Both of you just go before you give me a headache which I'll repay the favor by giving you both one with my pickaxe!" Shana shouted at us.

We just smiled and shrugged as Luca and I began making our way to the Nurse's office. Luca ensured I didn't fall back down the stairs when another throb of pain sent me spiraling. We chuckled a bit as we made our way into the room but found the room already occupied by Damian, who was facing the shelves of medicine.

"Damian?" I called out to him in surprise.

Damian suddenly jumped up which in turn made me and Luca jump up startled just as bad as him. "F-Frizz man! Don't sneak up on a dude like that! That's not cool!"

"Sorry, we didn't know anyone was up here. We just came up to get some pain killers for Kai," Luca apologized before he kept talking, "But why aren't you at breakfast?"

"Oh… uh well, I'm just checking out the cabinet to see if anything is different. Like how Monokuma changes out the inventory of the school store," Damian told us.

I blinked at him. "But he doesn't."

"And sure enough, that's exactly what I'm seeing here! Nothing different from before! Well then, I best head back to get my breakfast. See ya guys later at the garden," Damian said, smiling as he stepped past us and began speed walking down the hallway and out of sight.

Luca and I looked at each other with the same bewildered expressions. "What was that about?" Luca asked me.

"I don't know. I think…" I started but stopped myself.

"What?" Luca curiously asked.

I shook my head. "Never mind."

"Come on, man. Penny for your thoughts," Luca said as he reached around my shoulders with one arm and rubbed my right arm, trying to help comfort me.

I sighed out before confessing, "I know he's keeping secrets from us but I don't understand why. I really want to believe in him that he's not the traitor but I swear he's not making things easy for me and I can't understand why he's hiding from me and…" I had to stop when my migraine smashed my brain around making me grip it. Luca had grabbed me as if I was about to fall aa he eased his grip slowly to ensure he didn't need to hold me up.

"This migraine is happening because of all this stress you're putting on yourself. Hang on. Let me grab the acetaminophen," Luca told me before he rushed over and opened the glass door to the shelves as he searched and grabbed the bottle. He then reached over to the provided paper cups on the desk and filled it up with water in the nearby sink. He walked carefully back to me, as to not spill the water. He handed me the cup before he unscrewed the lid to the pill bottle and tipped it into my free hand. But to our surprise, only one pill fell into my hand.

"That's all that's left?" Luca asked in shock.

"Was there more?" I asked in return.

"Yeah, I remember the bottle was barely opened after Sienna had locked herself in the fitness room before she was killed. She had taken some to fight through the pain to get stronger," Luca told me.

I shook my head, confused. "But the bottle says it has over three hundred pills inside so what happened to the other 299 pills? Did everyone really experience that much pain that we all went through those pills?"

Luca shrugged. "I guess so. After all, it's been a while since Sienna died so the pills could have disappeared by then."

"WRONG!"

The two of us jumped up frightened by the booming voice from behind Luca as Monokuma was standing on the desk. We glared at him as he kept talking, "See, I treat this place like the school store. Every time someone dies and the survivors make it out, I restock everything so no bottles are empty."

"Wait, then you do add new things to the inventory here too?" I interrogated him.

"Well, not at first." He answered.

"What does that mean?" Luca asked, suspiciously.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I think you too are a little too comfy for your own good right now," Monokuma sang out.

I looked at him confused. "Huh?"

"Well, I mean you are seriously about to violate a regulation," he suddenly said in a cold tone.

"What?! We have not!" Luca shouted angrily.

"Aren't you the one who said when everyone is done at breakfast to meet up for today's club activity? Well everyone is done and are now waiting for you! If you don't hurry, I may see fit to punish you," Monokuma told us, looking very giddy.

"But I haven't eaten yet!" I hollered at him.

"As long as no one is in the cafeteria then breakfast is over! Which means you must participate in the club activity or face punishment. What's it gonna be?" Monokuma asked us.

"Obviously, we'll go," Luca replied as he guided me away, leaving Monokuma to sulk away.

I quickly downed the pill and water and sighed out. I blinked and in the next moment, I said, "Wow. That's some powerful acetaminophen! That one pill just annihilated my headache like it was nothing."

"Seems the medications here are more potent with every pill so one pill is as effective as four. I wonder if that's because of the school or Monokuma," Luca replied, thoughtfully.

I shrugged, unsure how to respond. We soon made our way up to the fourth floor as we went inside the botanical garden and found everyone else there, waiting for us.

"Sorry for being late everyone," Luca hollered out.

Melinda huffed. "Well, it's not like we care either way. It's just the two in charge of this damn club are responsible for getting things started and you couldn't be bothered."

I stared her down before replying, "That's not it."

"It don't matter. They're here now, right?" Willie said to Melinda before looking to Luca and asking, "So then, what's today's club activity?"

Luca stepped forward and smiled. "Well, we are all Ultimates so I figured the game should also be ultimate. So that's why I decided to set things up for ultimate tag!"

"Ultimate tag?" Tommy repeated, looking a little confused.

Luca nodded. "Here's how it works. Two taggers will be set up inside the forest area to try and tag us. Three people will try to race through and get from the open area to the fountain on the opposite side of the garden. Each person can be tagged three times before they are eliminated. If the taggers tag all three runners before they reach the fountain, then they win. But if anyone makes it through and tags the fountain, then the runners win. We'll rotate things around so that everyone gets a chance to play. With that in mind, who wants to go first?"

"I am definitely a hunter!" Melinda chuckled out, confidently.

Willie deadpanned at her. "Um… I believe they're called taggers and not hunters, sugar."

"Hunters, taggers, same thing. Also…" She suddenly and effortlessly tossed her rifle up and kept her eyes on Willie as the rifle came falling back down towards her. She easily caught her gun without looking and aimed it behind her and fired it which then impeded a tree trunk and got stuck but not until after it impaled another tree trunk all the way through. She then continued speaking, "Don't you ever give me a nickname like sugar. Got it?"

Willie tried to keep calm but I could tell he looked nervous as hell. Luca quickly latched onto the gun which Melinda glared at him for touching her precious Pablo. "I'm gonna confiscate this item for now. We don't need any accidents happening."

At first, Melinda didn't give in but when she noticed the dictator glare from Paul she was quick to obey and release it. Luca approached Ollie with the gun extended out to her. "Can I trust you to hold onto this for me?"

Ollie nodded. "Of course," She answered, taking the gun from him. Soon Luca turned around and cracked his knuckles. "I'm gonna be a runner."

"I wanna run too!" Shana called out.

Damian stepped forward. "I think I wanna try being a tagger."

"Great! We need one more runner," Luca announced before looking at the rest of us but no one stepped forward. He smiled as his eyes rested on me. "Why don't you run with us, Kai?"

"Oh no, I shouldn't. Sure I may be quite physically active but I'm not that athletic. Especially when compared to you or her," I confessed, pointing to Luca and Melinda.

Paul growled out as he shoved me forward. "Everyone is gonna have to participate anyway! Quit wasting my time with your petty, nonsensical excuses!"

I sighed out, realizing I didn't have a say anymore as I took the third runner spot.

Luca looked over at Tommy. "Say, Tommy? Will you act as the judge to watch the action and call out when someone gets tagged?"

"Sure, no problem. I will be fair and impartial to the taggers," Tommy replied as he, Damian, and Melinda walked into the forested area of the botanical garden. Me, Shana, and Luca all gathered at the edge of the forest area and waited for a cue from Tommy to begin.

After a brief moment of silence, we heard Tommy call out. "Runners, the taggers are in place! Are you ready?"

"Yeah!" We all shouted back.

"Then ultimate tag will begin in three… two… one… NOW!" Tommy screamed, signaling the game's start.

Before Shana and I could blink, Luca shot past us so fast, I almost believed Ollie had taken a shot at us. Shana also seemed surprised as we sat there for a second before we kicked it into high gear and began racing through. We heard the bystanders cheering for us as we rushed in. More so I heard Ollie cheer on Luca specifically.

The forest itself was pretty dense but I noticed Tommy was sitting on a tree branch further down in the mini forest to have enough vantage to basically see everyone around. I however couldn't see much with the bushes and everything around, blocking most of my view of things. Before long suddenly I heard a snap but just thought it was me before a screech resonated as Melinda popped out onto me from nowhere and slammed into me. I was knocked to the ground as I glared at her.

"Tag!" She taunted me. I growled as I made my way back to the starting point. I noticed Luca was also on his way back as he grinned. "Did Melinda get you too?"

"More like football tackled me. I swear she almost knocked out that acetaminophen out of my head and gave me my headache back," I told him which he cracked up at.

Soon we were back out as we then turned back and began rushing in again. I figured I should try running to the left since Melinda caught me on the right. I heard a scuffle over to the right as Damian laughed out, "I got you!"

The next thing I knew was Shana letting out a string of swears as she was most likely stomping back to the beginning, salty from getting caught.

I noticed Luca not far away as he suddenly went bouncing off the tree trunks like he was ricocheting off each one like a ball using only his feet to bounce from tree to tree. There was an unusually large gap in between trees so I assumed he'd fall back to the ground but the next thing I saw was him leaping even higher as he now grabbed onto the branches and began swinging on them like monkey bars on a playground but with each bar being a few feet apart. Yet he had no trouble getting enough momentum to launch himself forward. I saw the edge of the forest as we raced ahead.

'We're gonna make it! I can see the fountain!' I cheered in my mind but suddenly I heard someone behind me as I was grabbed from behind. I stopped and looked back and saw Damian had caught up to me. "Sorry, Kai."

I then saw Luca didn't have his eyes on the fountain as he stared at me instead. I quickly called out to him. "Focus, Luca!" But it was too late as Melinda jumped like a kangaroo out of nowhere and latched herself around Luca's legs, making him scream out on surprise as they fell to the ground with a thud. I then saw Shana racing nearby where they fell and heard her let out a quick scream as she suddenly fell to the floor.

"Looks like Melinda managed to grab her ankle. Sorry, Kai. Even with the Ultimate Traceur on your side, it seems the Ultimate Huntress is gonna help win this round for the taggers," Damian said, confidently.

I grinned back at him. "Don't count us out yet. We still have one more life each."

I began making my way back to the start as I saw the others get up to get back in position. Soon the runners were back out but before me or Shana could run, "Hold up, guys."

We looked back at Luca who pulled us close together in a huddle. "Alright, you two. Running in separately isn't gonna work. Even if we spread out far enough all they need to do is have Damian catch one of you and then Melinda will easily catch the other two with her lightning-fast reflexes."

"Then what do we do? We can't run together otherwise we'll be too easy of a target." Shana remarked.

"Hmmm. Maybe we can run together and not be a target," I said thoughtfully.

"How?" Shana asked.

I leaned in and began whispering my plan to them. After I was done, the two nodded with confident smirks in agreement with my plan. With everything planned out, Shana took the lead and began sneaking her way through.

Shana made it to the halfway point of the forest as she crept quietly before a snap resonated and Damian popped up. "I found you!"

Shana then booked it as far in as she could with leaves falling in her wake. Suddenly Damian popped out next to her and caught her. "Gotcha!"

Shana smirked before responding, "Maybe so but you're not fast enough to get Luca."

Sure enough, Luca zoomed past behind Damian as he tripped over trying to grab him. Damian looked up as Luca neared the edge of the forest to the small clearing before the fountain. "I don't need to be fast enough." He chuckled.

Suddenly Melinda popped up in front of Luca, blocking his path. She mirrored his movements to sidestep her as she effectively cut Luca off from the safe zone. "That was a nice attempt to use dirt girl as a decoy but unfortunately I knew that you would try that. And don't bother letting Kai run past after I tag you. He's not fast enough to outrun me."

"You're right about that. Kai isn't fast enough for a skilled hunter like you. Your analytical abilities are superior to us," Luca said in a flattering manner.

Melinda blinked. "Wait, what? Are you serious?" She asked as he nodded to her before she continued questioning him. "Then are you giving up?"

Luca then got a glint in his eye. "Not a chance."

Melinda's eyebrows quickly perked up as a leaf danced close to her ear. She looked up but I was already jumping down from the treetops and using the momentum of gravity to grab a vine and swing just above her. She jumped up to grab me as her hand snatched onto a limb. But Melinda saw she was gripping on an arm and looked to see Luca had jumped in the way as they fell to the ground.

Melinda immediately shoved Luca off and dashed at me with Damian not far behind but the vine swung me out of the trees and flung me through the air. My backpack sailed off my back as my arms and legs flailed as I went soaring at an alarming height as I found myself screaming as I front-flipped through the air and began my descent towards the base of the fountain. Unable to control myself, I plunged into the water on my back. Luckily for me, the base and water were deep enough that I didn't hit the bottom when I splashed in the water. I sat up and coughed up a bit of water as I shivered from the freezing water.

Tommy blinked in awe before calling out, "The runners win!"

Soon everyone was running to me in a bustle as I stood up and climbed out and sat on the edge of the fountain base. Everyone was overwhelming me with praise and hype at that amazing victory we pulled off. Shana and Luca both sat next to me as they hugged me. Possibly for both being happy we won and to also help warm me up.

"I can't believe you didn't die! That was awesome, Kai!" Shana laughed out with a humongous grin plastered on.

Luca smiled just as big as her as he patted my head. "That was some sick air time! It was like you were a true traceur for a moment. Well, one that flailed about and screamed as he plummeted." I glared at him and elbowed his side playfully as he let out a chortle. "Don't worry. Damian already offered to grab a towel for you so you can dry off."

Ollie then approached with Pablo in hand and held it out to Melinda, who angrily snatched it back and stomped next to the bored hacker who didn't seem to have been watching. Ollie rolled her eyes at her before stepping up to me with my backpack in hand. "I don't think you want to lose this."

I smiled at her as I grabbed the backpack from her. "Thanks."

"That was amazing! How did you manage to pull that off?" Willie asked me, curiously.

I smiled as I began unveiling the plan. "Well, I noticed that Melinda always went after Luca, most likely because he was the biggest threat since his talent gave him a major advantage. I also noticed Damian always had his focus on the one closest to him so that the physically superior huntress could catch the third slacker with ease. I figured if we were to spread out it would only limit our time since Damian would catch me or Shana, Melinda would first go after Luca, and then she'd finish off the straggler who would be far off to one side. So I figured the best strategy was to stick close together but on different levels. While I hid in the treetops, Shana led the distraction party and as soon as Damian made himself known she ran giving me the opportunity to run along the treetops to disguise any noise I made along with the noise she and Damian were making. Once she was tagged out, Luca took charge and quickly outran Damian and got me to the edge of the forest, where I happened to notice some strong vines growing off the trees near the edge. Luca got himself in position by the vines by disguising his movements by sidestepping when Melinda blocked him off. We predicted she wouldn't tag him immediately since a hunter enjoys the thrill of the hunt so Luca used a clever silver tongue to throw her off and use that moment of distraction to use the vine to fly past her, have Luca take the fall so I don't get tagged, and have a clear shot at victory. Unfortunately, I wasn't prepared for the velocity and height I was thrown at."

"Damn, Kai! That's impressive!" Willie said, impressed with my explanation.

Not long after that, Damian appeared with the towel as he held it out to me. "Hey, Kai. Congrats on that epic win, man."

"Thanks, Damian." I smiled as I grabbed the towel and began dabbing at my wet clothes and wiping at my exposed skin before wrapping myself in a towel cocoon.

"Well, I think Kai deserves to sit the next few rounds out. Let's get back to it!" Luca hollered out as he assigned Ollie, Willie, and Tommy to be the next runners and Paul and himself to be the taggers.

We kept up at the game for what felt like hours upon hours and eventually I did get back in the game when I felt good enough to run in lightly damp clothing. The taggers won an even amount of times as the runners did but in the end, we lost count because we just didn't care at that point. We were having too much fun. But I should have known that it was supposed to be short-lived. This happiness and joy and hope I was feeling were never meant to last forever. In this place, those positive emotions are meant to be crushed into a fine dust by despair and a death bear.

Monokuma suddenly popped up at the fountain as we wrapped up the round we just finished. "Alright, kids! Playtime is over! Now it's time for the real fun to get underway!" He laughed at us.

Paul smiled as he said, "Well at least something of interest is finally happening. I was growing tiresome of these childish games. I don't even care that it's a motive meant to drive us to kill."

Monokuma sighed. "How refreshing to see how the bonds of your friendships have grown since this club began a few days ago. Look at you all! So cooperative and encouraging of each other! Now let's see how badly I can damage all those good times and grind those memories of camaraderie away into dust on the wind. Shana O'Conner! You're up!"

All our eyes went on Shana as she looked scared as she and Tommy stepped forward together, only for Monokuma to slash at Tommy who was somehow lucky enough to dodge it. "I don't think I said, Shana and boyfriend! She comes up alone! No excuses!"

Shana groaned out as she left Tommy and stood in front of Monokuma who now stood on the fountain base. He held up two envelopes both with her name on them. "Alright, Missy! I have two motives left right now and I have both different motives for you. Now you just have to choose which of your motives you wish to take now and everyone else will get the same motive you pick! So which one is the lucky bitch this time?"

Shana reached out a shaky hand and closed her eyes as she blindly grabbed the right envelope. Monokuma cheered out happily as he sent out a quick barrage of envelopes at everyone else, all labeled with our names. I quickly found mine and snatched it up before anyone else could.

With trembling fingers, I tore it open and opened the folded piece of paper inside. What I found typed on the page left me feeling cold-blooded.

"Someone has targeted you! Beware!"

"W-What the hell is this?!" I found myself screaming out. I soon looked up and saw everyone else's faces were drained of color as their shaking eyes scanned the words on their page over and over again.

"You kids like games so I thought I'd make you all play a unique version of "True or False"! I gave you all a statement that details something dreadfully bad for you. The thing is some of your papers tell the complete and utter truth while some of your papers tell you nothing but a big fat lie I came up with! The problem is I made each paper very personal so none of you will truly know if you hold a true or false statement! But if you really wanna figure it out then take a random guess! See how well that works out for you when you find a knife in your head or are debating who you can easily kill for your survival! Enjoy the game because I know I will! Bwahahahahahahaha!" Monokuma laughed maniacally as he vanished.

I read my paper again and again and again. 'Someone has targeted me? Does that mean someone wants to kill me? N-No! I refuse to believe that! It has to be a lie! But… what if it's not?'

My conflicted thoughts were suddenly interrupted as I heard a heavy accent begin speaking unusually loud. "Alright, Lil' lady! What do ya think yur doin'?"

I looked up to see Willie glaring at Shana. Shana squinted at him in bewilderment. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me! I should have known a snake like you were plannin' something!" Willie called her out.

Luca quickly ran over to him. "Willie, please don't do this. Whatever you read is probably a lie."

"Ain't no way that this is a lie! I'm certain of it!" Willie replied back in a huff.

Shana folded her arms as she raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Prove it, big boy. What's got your cowturd pants in a bunch so badly you start attacking me for?"

"Shana, I don't think that's a good idea…" I tried to reason with her but Willie interrupted me. "You wanna know? Fine! But this ain't gonna be new for you, O'Conner!" Willie held up his paper for us to all read.

Shana is the traitor and plans on killing you soon! Keep an eye out for her!

Shana began breathing heavy, ragged breaths as her paper got crimpled in her now tightly clenched fist. "What the fuck is your problem? That's so obviously a lie!"

"Huh? Really? Because I'm inclined to believe it is the undeniable truth," Willie scoffed out.

"And why does that mashed up grey lump you call a brain in your skull to think that?!" Shana snapped at him.

"Multiple reasons actually. First of all, you've always been such a pain in everyone's asses, especially mine," Willie started off.

"That's the blindest conjecture I've ever heard," Ollie deadpanned.

Willie then shushed Ollie. "Be quiet, woman. I ain't talking to you." Ollie growled as she stepped forward only for Luca to grab her shoulders and shake his head, making Ollie back off but not release her glare off him. "Second, a girl like you has only survived for this long because you have been getting help from the mastermind."

That did it. The next thing we knew was Shana screeching bloody murder as she grabbed her pickaxe and went swinging at him. Willie jumped out of the way as she struck the ground with it before Tommy and Luca grabbed her and pulled her away from her pickaxe, which was now sticking up from the ground, as Willie recovered.

Willie glared at her. "And there's number three! She just tried to kill me!"

"You deserve it, you sexist pig! How has no one put you six feet under yet!? No one deserves to die more than you! You ridicule and belittle women like their nothing significant! You see us as weak and helpless property who only live to be servants to the man!" Shana screamed at him.

"News flash! That's how the world is!" Willie hollered back at her.

Shana stepped forward at him with each arm being held back by the two who held her back. "NO! That's how your world is, cowboy! Wake up! You're not in Kansas anymore!"

"Texas," Willie stubbornly corrected.

"I don't give a fuck where you're from! You are not in that little shit isolated farm you call home! You're in the real world where men and women are treated equally without discrimination! I don't give a shit about scumbags like you! If you don't change, I swear to God I'm gonna kill you after I survive this hellhole!" Shana managed to break free of the guys' grasp as she bolted forward and grabbed her pickaxe. She unearthed the buried end but instead of going after Willie like I thought she would, I saw tears of anger rush from her eyes as she turned and charged out of the botanical garden.

"Shana!" Tommy cried out, chasing after her.

Willie glared and spat at her as she ran. "Good riddance. I won't do anything but I know she'll get what's comin' to her. Disobedient women like her reap what they sow." With that said, Willie left calm and collected.

"Well, I guess we should call it a day," Luca sighed out.

"Ya think?" Melinda snapped as she and Paul left next. After them, Damian, who was as pale as the rest of us which was no surprise after what just happened, wandered away.

Luca looked between me and Ollie and sighed. "I can't believe I let that escalate out of control."

I patted his arm. "Luca, you're a peace seeker and you tried everything you could but you can't stop every conflict here. Monokuma designed that scenario for Willie, knowing that outcome was gonna happen because of the bad blood between those two."

Ollie stepped in and added, "Not to mention Monokuma orchestrated this killing game to put us all on edge. The setting is just too high risk for us to try and be heroes."

"I guess but still, I was in charge of this club. It was my responsibility to ensure everyone was feeling safe and now no one does," Luca groaned out.

"That's exactly why Monokuma did this! He let us build up a wall of safety and prosperity just so he could immediately knock it down before we even get the chance to add the foundation to support it! That's his whole game and he knows how to play us pawns too well," I told him, trying to help him.

Luca sadly nodded. "Yeah, I get it. I know you're right but that doesn't help me believe that I couldn't have done a better job." With a dejected look in his eyes, Luca sulked away, leaving me and Ollie alone.

I felt my chest tighten at the sight of my dear friend looking so hurt. I hated it. I wanted to chase after him and try to comfort him but I knew I should leave him be. The last thing I want is for Luca to yell at me when he clearly needs to be alone. I collapsed to the ground in a heap as I rested on my knees before falling back into the grass behind me. "Welcome to Hope's Peak," I mumbled softly with my eyes closed.

I heard some shuffling next to my head but I didn't bother looking. Suddenly, I felt my head be lifted up and legs slide underneath as it was placed down in their lap. I opened my eyes to see Ollie's deep gray eyes staring sweetly into mine as she petted my head, soothing me, and all the negative effects my body was experiencing. Soon my eyes began to drift as she stroked the bridge of my nose with her pinky finger. I snorted awake once or twice as she lulled me to sleep as I was overtaken by the sudden warmth I felt had now enveloped within my very soul. Then like a newborn babe, I was out cold.

The next thing I knew was my brain began to stir as I shifted around feeling constricted as my eyes fluttered open and I saw a blanket covering me. My fingertips raised up and caressed the coarse blanket. But then I thought, 'Wait, blankets aren't this ruffled.' I then looked down at my body as my eyes adjusted to the bright light of the botanical garden. What I saw covering my body wasn't a blanket but the towel Damian got for me earlier today. Then the feeling behind my head made me realize that wasn't a pillow behind it but someone's lap. I instantly remembered whose lap I was resting in and looked up to see Ollie still staring at me and smiling.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Ollie cooed.

I lurched up away from her as I now sat up in front of her and looked back at her. "Ollie? What's going on?"

Ollie smiled lightly. "Well, you were really upset so thought you could use a nap. I didn't expect you to fall asleep so easily as you did though. You must have not been getting much sleep lately."

"That's scary how you know that," I admitted, knowing it was futile to try and hide things from her.

"Like I said before if I want to be the best tattoo artist ever I need to know people. Knowing what they're thinking and feeling by how they move and react and what interests them is key to becoming the best," She told me.

I nodded as I began thinking back. "So, you never did tell me how things went with your uncle when you became his novice."

Ollie shrugged a bit. "Eh… It's not much of a story. I observed him and his technique with his hand movement and how he spoke to people and just copied him and then expanded upon those skills."

"That still sounds interesting to me. Learning about people is fun although not as easy for me as it is for you," I chuckled wholeheartedly.

Ollie giggled at that before replying, "Trust me, there are a lot more interesting stories about me."

"Like what?" I asked her.

"Well, like my name for example." She answered.

"Your name?" I implored her my newfound interest in the subject she brought up.

Ollie pointed to me with a smirk. "You see? Already piqued your nosiness. But yeah how I got my name is an interesting story. See, my full name is Olivia Beatrice Peralta."

"That's a beautiful name," I replied.

"My name projects more than just beauty; it reflects the expectations put on me by the world. See, in my Latin family, our names are given to us once the parents get a revelation as to what kind of future the baby is expected to have. If they feel the baby's future is bright and cheerful or gloomy and unfulfilling, then the name of the child should reflect that prediction," Ollie began explaining.

"So then if that's how your family takes naming the children, what does your name mean?" I questioned her.

"Well, Ollie or Olivia refers to the olive tree, Beatrice means "she who brings happiness", and my last name basically sums up to "dweller on the high rock". So altogether my name stands for the olive tree who brings happiness on the high rock," Ollie informed me.

"So then what kind of expectations were put on you? Were your parents expecting you to be an olive farmer on a mountain or something?" I asked her, intrigued.

She suddenly busts a gut laughing at me as she nearly fell to the side, laughing so exuberantly. "It's not quite that literal. The expectations go deeper than that. Basically what my parents hoped for me was that I would be a source of life and happiness to others in a place unmoving no matter the obstacles. And to be frank I believe I fulfilled that obligation to my name. To me, tattoos are a major source of happiness because they're an expression of freedom for the soul. And as long as I continue to bring my form of happiness to others, then I'll never fall from my high rock and nothing will knock me down. Not even this killing game can stop me from fulfilling my namesake."

I was beyond impressed by this philosophy of the meaning behind names. It made me curious about what the meaning behind my name meant to the world. But soon Ollie stood up and stretched out. "Welp. Time to head to bed. Nighttime is about to start."

I was shocked to hear that. "It's that late?! Damn, I really was out cold for hours. Sorry about that."

Ollie lightly pushed me. "Oh, get over yourself. It's not like you did it without my permission. Besides, if it meant helping you then I was more than glad to do it. Now then, I'm off. I need to get rested up for tomorrow. I plan on helping someone special feel better," She confessed to me with a blush before she waved goodnight to me and left. I knew she was referring to Luca but that still didn't make my stomach feel happy as that gut-wrenching jealousy hit me again.

I ignored it as I finally left the botanical garden and made my way all the way back down to the first floor and to my room. As I got into bed, my mind couldn't help but drift back to my slip of paper I got. 'Someone has targeted you. Beware.' Those words defined around in my head as I tried to comprehend what they could mean if my warning was indeed a truth. But even still, nothing came to mind even as I once again succumbed to sleep's embrace.

Day 18

The usual morning announcement once again lured me out of my stasis of sleep and dragged me back to reality. I wanted to just go back to sleep and yet my body was compelled to not comply with what my mind begged for and so I got myself out of bed and ready for the day. After some time, I left my dorm and went to the cafeteria. To no surprise, there was hardly anyone there. Paul and Melinda were the only ones around as I went to get myself breakfast.

I soon sat down with my food ready and I was quick to devour everything on my tray. But just as soon as I finished, they approached me.

"Say, Kai? Did you happen to see anyone on your way here this morning?" Melinda questioned me, making me feel like I was being interrogated.

"If you haven't then I doubt I can give you much of an answer. So in other words, not yet." I told her, hoping that was enough to get them to leave me alone but of course it wasn't.

Paul eyed me. "I hope Ollie has been spending more time with you to help you see the light?"

"You mean the glimpse of light that comes from lurking in your shadow? Yeah, no thanks. Nothing you say will ever make me join you." I huffed at them.

"You are so stubborn!" Paul growled.

"Takes one to know one," I shot back, getting in his face as he and I stared each other down before I broke contact and just left my tray and dirty dishes on the table.

As I wandered away from the cafeteria and walked around aimlessly, I found myself in the school store. I immediately noticed a lot of new items inside. I saw many torture items ranging from whips to a fucking breast ripper from Medival Times! "The fuck is wrong with you, Monokuma!" I spat under my breath.

This day was already turning out to be a bad day but surely it couldn't get any worse.

*Bing Bong Ding Dong*

"What the?" I spoke out in surprise as I saw Monokuma appear.

Monokuma was almost elated as he spoke. "A body has been discovered! Please make your way to the Nurse's office immediately! After your time investigating is done, the class trial will begin!"

"Wait… th-that… that was a body discovery announcement!? But that's not possible! There is no way!" I heard myself shouting in disbelief. 'The Nurse's office! I need to get there! This has to be a prank! It has to be!' With those thoughts of determination or perhaps desperation in mind, I rushed out of the school store and up the stairs to the next floor. I frantically ran as fast as I could, my legs feeling like they were gonna snap as I stopped in front of the open doorway.

I gasped as I saw some things messed up near the nurse's desk and items are strewn around but the big thing I honed in on was a trail of blood leading from the floor in front of the desk to a bed with the curtain closed around it. I saw shadows stand behind it and figured it was the ones who first discovered…

'No! It's like I said! It can't be real! Monokuma is just pranking me! I'm not gonna find anything behind that curtain!' I thought as I marched over to the curtain and reached up. But despite my confidence, I was pushing on myself, the moment I opened the curtain, I knew that I was just trying to fool myself. I knew I wouldn't want to accept the truth but what I saw in front of me left my pupils dilated and my body rigid. Four other students stood there, blankly staring at what I couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at as well.

(youtu. be/9hn3gBV-nYc)

Laying back on the bed, with massive bloodstains on the shirt's torso and right sleeve and blood still leaking out of the mouth, the eyes rolled back into the skull like with when we found Mikayla… the victim… dead… was…

I meekly whimpered, "N-No… Damian…"

Here we go again! The new victim is here and the fourth class trial will soon be upon us! Honestly it was really difficult killing this character off! What did you think of this chapter? I hope it was good enough! Please leave a review and follow my work if you like it! Until the investigation chapter, soak in the despair until then! Puhuhuhu~